Federal Judge Says Illinois Same-Sex Couple Can Marry Early


Last week, Illinois became the sixteenth state to legalize same-sex marriage. Though the law isn’t scheduled to take effect until June 1, 2014, one couple has been granted permission to marry seven months early. 

A federal judge has ordered that an expedited marriage license be issued to Vernita Gray—who has terminal breast cancer—and her longtime partner Patricia Ewert. Gray, 64 and Ewert, 65, who have been together for five years, will become the first same-sex couple to be legally wed in Illinois. 

“I have two cancers, bone and brain and I just had chemo today,” Gray told NBC Chicago. “I am so happy to get this news. I’m excited to be able to marry and take care of Pat, my partner and my family, should I pass.”

On Friday, two days after Governor Pat Quinn signed the marriage equality bill, Ewert and Gray, who isn’t expected to live until June, filed a lawsuit with Lambda Legal, an LGBT rights legal organization, seeking permission to marry immediately. On Monday, US District Judge Thomas Durkin agreed and ordered Cook County Clerk David Orr to issue the couple a marriage license.

“As a supporter of same-sex marriage, I’m pleased Judge Durkin granted relief to Patricia Ewert and Vernita Gray in this difficult time,” Orr said in a statement to the Chicago Tribune.

Though they’ve been in a civil union since 2011, Gray and Ewert do not enjoy the full protections of marriage. “I believe the most important thing for Vernita was to be able to protect Pat,” a close friend of the couple told the Chicago Sun-Times. “And with Social Security and federal benefits and how estates are handled in a marriage, it really makes them full-class citizens in Illinois.”

Read US District Judge Thomas Durkin’s ruling below:

 

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate